Will pay hike result in better teaching?

TNNNov 21, 2005, 12.20am IST

Incentivise teachers for better performance

Pay hikes for teachers will almost definitely not improve the quality of education/teaching. If it would, then the quality of teaching should have improved over the years as teacher salaries have gone up. The primary school teacher for example, is already considered economically better-off in the village — one reason why large sums of money are paid for postings in government schools.

Private schools in urban areas pay less than their government counterparts but often have somewhat better teaching to show for it. Many states have opted for para-teachers because of the perception that current teacher salaries are higher than market rates.

Increasing pay across the board will not solve the problem because it is a much more complex, multi-faceted one. The solution, though it sounds radical, is to pay for performance. Modern statistical and assessment techniques make it possible to conduct annual independent tests which can capture the levels of achievement of children.

Of course, more important than the absolute levels of performance would be the relative change or increase in performance level over the period of the year. Teachers should then be paid incentives based on that increase or improvement in children's learning over the period.